Religion and Politics from a Young Christian in Northern Virginia

Stimpson Campaign: Attacking Those Who Question Their Narrative

February 18th, 2013

Last night I posted an article questioning Susan Stimpson’s anti-establishment credentials. I’ve been highly critical of both Susan Stimpson, and Pete Snyder on my facebook profile as I question whether they really are what they claim to be. To Pete Snyder’s credit, when I was at the Sterling forum, he came to me and said, “I’ve seen your posts about me on facebook. Thanks for keeping me honest.” We had a good time interacting throughout that evening. Seeing a candidate not take criticism personally, was refreshing.

Stimpson’s response to criticism is quite the opposite. While one of her supporters was willing to respond good naturedly, her Campaign Director, Scott Hirons, believed it was better to attack my maturity and motivation, than engage in a discussion and respond to the questions. I’d love to have begun a discussion on whether Stimpson was the anti-establishment candidate, and if I’m wrong I’d love to see the proof. Instead the campaign has sent a clear message, we don’t set the record straight, we just impugn our critics. I’d love to see how that strategy works in the general election.

This thin skinned response by the campaign is reminiscent of the incredibly condescending way in which she spoke at the candidate forum in Sterling last week. She spoke as if the audience agreed with her that she was the one who got it, while everyone else was flawed. She also seemed to start every response to a question with a jab at whoever had just spoken.

Maybe in this post Scott Hirons, Stimpson’s Campaign Director, wasn’t speaking for the campaign, but for himself. This is understandable, because maybe the post hit a little close to home for him. You see, his Linkedin account states the following…

Yes, Bill Howell is the Speaker of the House… Quite possibly he was upset, I would write something that seemed to go after his former boss.

This however, only further highlights the Stimpson/Howell connection, that Stimpson supporters try to deny. Stimpson owes her seat to Howell, works hand in hand with him, and his former Director of Communications directs her campaign, but her supporters would have you believe Lingamfelter is really the one in bed with Bill Howell. Some connections are just a bit too hard to deny.

Either Stimpson’s campaign is incredibly thin skinned, or it has an undisciplined campaign manager who highlights the Stimpson/Howell connection. Either one is not good news for the Stimpson campaign moving forward. Let’s see what results from these approaches as the nomination process continues, or when the papers start questioning her should she win the nomination.